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By Joe Buscaglia

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Bills' Hughes confirms he was behind the wheel at time of Dareus incident

by Joe Buscaglia,posted Jun 4 2014 1:34PM

Since the news broke regarding Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus and his car accident in Hamburg, it led to the discovery of another player on the team being a part of the situation. Starting defensive end Jerry Hughes was identified as the other driver in question of the alleged street racing.

Following Wednesday's practice, Hughes admitted to being behind the wheel of his black Camaro on Friday, the day of the accident.

"Was I there? Yes," the defensive end said. "I was driving my car. I was on the street while [Dareus] was on the street driving his vehicle as well."

Past that, Hughes wouldn't say much regarding the situation and rightfully so. It's an ongoing legal matter, so the veteran couldn't divulge much information regarding the case. The insuation of the case is that the two were street racing, which led to Dareus crashing into a tree near a Hamburg area restaurant.

Hughes was asked point blank if that was the case, and they were indeed street racing. He paused, thought about it, gave a half laugh and then went to a similar refrain throughout the three-minute interview.

"Like I said, they won't let me speak on the facts. So, it's a legal matter that the Hamburg Police is working on right now," he remarked. "They won't let me say too much about it. The facts are the facts though, I will say that."

Hughes has been approached by head coach Doug Marrone and the two talked about the situation. The player didn't divulge the contents of that conversation, but he did say he's going to abide by what they talked about when the situation was broached.

As for Hughes, he isn't going to change his driving habits. He believes he is a law-following citizen, despite what has unraveled over the past couple of days.

"I've always been one to abide by the law and to follow the guidelines and speed limits that they have set out there for us," Hughes said. "Will my approach change? No, because I've always been one to abide by that."

The defensive end was a full participant on Wednesday during the team's fifth practice of Organized Team Activities. There have been no formal charges issued by the Hamburg Police to Hughes, while Dareus faces three misdemeanors and four traffic and property violations for his role in the incident.